Best PlacesMonona, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Monona, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Monona ranks 8,310th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Monona
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Monona's strengths and weaknesses
Where Monona ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 88% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 87% of towns
- BikingBetter than 83% of towns
Where Monona ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 35% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 35% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Monona
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Monona home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,198, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Monona's effective rate of 1.12%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Monona
Monona runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Monona.
Who works in Monona, and how
Work in Monona centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Monona
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Monona.
What the weather is like in Monona, month by month
Monona sees roughly 116 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 15° |
| April | 59° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 62° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Monona
The nearest airport, Dubuque Regional, is about 57 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 156 miles away.
The best schools in and around Monona
Schools across Monona average an A−, better than 87% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mfl Marmac Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Mcgregor Intermediate SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Waukon Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
Top high schools
- Waukon High SchoolA · 79% proficient
- Mfl Marmac HsA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Monona school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Monona measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Monona against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Monona
Is Monona a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Monona ranks 8,310th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, state finances, and civic engagement, and lowest on tree cover and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Monona expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $161,856. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $74,198 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is Monona safe?
Yes, Monona is safer than 64% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $246 per resident a year.
Compare Monona with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Monona. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Monona represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Monona detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Monona: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Monona: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Monona: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Monona: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Monona detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.